Wednesday, February 06, 2019

Bhubaneswar: The Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA), one of the fastest growing airports in the country, is set to achieve a whopping four million annual passenger traffic mark in the fiscal year 2018-19, a top airport official said.

The airport is expected to witness a 24 per cent growth in passenger traffic in the current financial year, he said.
Speaking exclusively to Odisha Sun Times, BPIA Director Suresh Chandra Hota said: “While the airport registered over 3.23 million passengers in 2017-2018, we have set a target of 4 million passengers for 2018-19 fiscal.”

In 2017-18 fiscal, a total of 32, 37, 956 lakh passengers travelled through the airport and, out of this, 31, 58, 916 lakh were domestic and 91, 979 were international passengers.

As per the data available till December, 2018, the airport handled as many as 31, 19, 542 lakh passengers. Of which, 30, 45, 318 were domestic and 74,124 were international passengers.

The projected air traffic movement till March, 2019 is 42, 87, 679 lakh, both domestic and international with a 32-42 per cent growth rate compared to 2017-18 fiscal, Hota added.
When asked what led to this significant rise in air traffic, the the airport Director said: “The increase in passenger traffic could be attributed to an increase in the number of flights and various national and international level events recently held in Bhubaneswar.”
05/02/19 Debasis Barik/Odisha Sun Times